Real Life Disaster Reviews: Floods, Hurricane and Earthquake

Floods

• "Water, Water: Everywhere" Bradford S. Goodwin, Jr., D.V.M Professor & Executive Director, Center for Laboratory Animal Medicine and Care, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas Dr. Goodwin discusses the effects of Tropical Storm Allison that occurred in the early hours of Saturday, 9 June 2001. The major animal care facility for the UTHSC-H was located in the basement of the Medical School and was over 45,000 net square feet of space that included over 75 animal housing rooms and related support areas. By 3:30 a.m., there was 12 feet of water in the basement and ground level of the MSB.  Over 10 million gallons of water had to be pumped from the basement of the MSB.   He discusses the critical steps to recovery and important issues you need to consider in your disaster planning process.

• "Recipe for Disaster - Just Add Water" Bruce Brown, Environmental Health and Safety, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas An emergency responder’s priorities are clear and are in this order: protect human life, protect the natural environment, minimize property damage and promote a prompt recovery.   Bruce Brown presents the emergency response priorities that were used during Tropical Storm Allison on 9 June, 2001, and how the Environmental Health and Safety responded to this emergency.

• "Preparing for Floods in a Disaster Plan" Stacy LeBlanc-Marco, MS, MBA, LATG, Animal Facility Operations Manager, Department of Veterinary Medicine & Surgery The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Houston, Texas The elements of an effective disaster plan are explained in detail by Stacy LeBlanc-Marco. An effective plan for severe weather preparedness is multi-pronged. A written plan is just a base on which to build and is only effective if staff members know how to implement it. The plan should include these elements:  written inclement weather plan, weather conditions monitoring, flood protection devices and animal evacuation plan.

• "Show Me the Money: Impact on Research" Bradford S. Goodwin, Jr., D.V.M Professor & Executive Director, Center for Laboratory Animal Medicine and Care, Universtiy of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas Dr. Goodwin reflects on the recovery and aftermath of Tropical Storm Allison in Houston, Texas on 9 June 2001. The damages that resulted in disruption of medical services to patients and delay for research projects will probably never be fully realized as to the monetary impact. The entire community was affected.  The costs of recovery are staggering and dollars for full recovery are illusive.   The impact on the Medical School Research and the steps to recover funding are discussed.

Hurricane

• "Hurricanes: A Practical Guide" Michael Swindle, DVM, Professor and Chairman Comparative Medicine Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC This presentation provides a practical approach to dealing with hurricanes by animal facility personnel.  Dr. Swindle's personal experiences of animal care programs with hurricanes will be very helpful to those developing disaster plans for hurricanes. He discusses how the outcome of a disaster will be dictated by the ability of the leadership on site to think tactically, and make sound decisions often in the face of minimal to no information.    The coordination of staff members who are able to relieve their colleagues is an important role that leadership plays in the aftermath.   You will find Dr. Swindles openness about the impact of real events will help you prepare for your next hurricane.

Earthquake

• "Effects of an Earthquake in Your Disaster Plan" Kim Overhulse, California State University Northridge On January 18th, 1994, at 4:30 A.M., an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck in Northridge, California. Due to the severity of this earthquake and after shocks, the campus was shut down to all personnel. The research animals on campus were trapped in the buildings for 12 days before emergency personnel could rescue them. Fortunately the animals were found during building assessment inspections and emergency rescue workers checked the animals frequently prior to recovery.   This presentation provides valuable information with respect to disaster response and evacuation planning with respect to research animals.

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